Bush vs. The Axis of Evil - TL
The darkly ironic thing is that the phrase "yamato-damashii" is used IOTL in some contexts still, including sports (like the World Cup)...ITTL the way it'll be used will be just another sign of how twisted the world has become, that this is what the people are having to respond to.
On a sidenote, I could see the more pacifist left actually being able to use the events as an argument against constitutional revision, on the grounds that Article 9 clearly is triggered by a rocket attack on this scale, it shows the country is still able to defend itself with such an article in place.
On one last sidenote for the moment: Suzuki Muneo is fairly friendly to Russia (and not yet out of the LDP, maybe). I see the Japanese government sending him to Moscow to sound out Putin about what he feels about all this...
I mean...brainwashing also isn't real. There's what people beleive because of the society they were raised in, but the Imperial Japanese surrendered despite everyone thinking they were too "brainwashed" to do so.
This update really lost me.
The Japanese surrendered because the Emperor (seen as a descendant of the Gods) told them to - until then the Japanese army was genuinely brutal and fanatical by the standards of the time. This was in a much more open, liberal environment than North Korea ever was - Japan was still a democracy in the early 1930s. Hitler produced millions of fanatics in a mere decade, not half a century as here.
The North Koreans have literally only just crossed the border. The collision with reality for many of the troops is only just beginning, and will certainly escalate. I base the level of conditioning at the time based on defectors who feared that Kim Jong Il would read their thoughts.
Besides, the stated reason the North Koreans in the story are acting the way they are has as much to do with the Songbun system. North Korea is ultimately a black hole, I think any response is possible among the troops (nowadays I think the outside world’s true nature too obvious) and so I chose one that would provide the deepest contrast between the liberal south.
Yes, but this topic is better reserved for another thread, it is pretty clear however, that in this timeline, the Western North Korea fandom as it is today in Spain and Brazil (the only two Western NK fandoms that I am aware of) wouldn't exist, even among the most die-hard Tankies, who love Stalin and Mao, but stop when someone like Pol Pot comes in, if some kind of North Korean state still exists as a Chinese puppet after the Second Korean War, then the North Korea fandom might just amalgamate into a pro-China one, since it is clear that the Kim regime is doomed even if North Korea manages to exist, just like how in The Death of Russia TL, Jang Song-thaek became its new leader as a Chinese puppet, perhaps even with a "de-Kimification" campaign to put North Korea in line with mainstream Marxism-Leninism, like what Vietnam did to Pol Pot's Kampuchea.
I don't have recollections of the specific page number, but in The Footprint of Mussolini thread, people were discussing about how German National Socialism was perceived when compared to the non-racialist and philo-semitic Fascism, and either Sorairo or another user stated that since Nazism and Fascism are treated as different and separate ideologies, ITTL Nazism has the same level of ideological foundation as the Columbine shooters' tapes or Jack the Ripper's letters - it's nothing but mindless mass murder and psychopathic edgelords being evil just for the sake of being evil, however, I hope that this time, Sorairo will not use the "world treats Communism as evil Nazism itself" trope for the third time in a row.
Or most likely, instead of being perceived as a mass shooter manifesto rather than an eccentric political ideology, ITTL due to the Juche-inspired suicide bombings against civilians, and the similarities between 9/11 and 6/29 (is this what it will be called?), the North Korean military would be morphed together with Hezbollah/Al-Qaeda as a religious terrorist group, I can already imagine the online articles and internet arguments ITTL of people arguing that Juche was not an atheistic political movement, but was rather a theistic religion that was a corruption of Korean Shamanism, that worshiped the Kims as divine Pharaoh-like demigods (i.e. Westerners making things up without knowing anything about the two Koreas), and promotes suicide bombings for afterlife rewards not much different from the Jihadists.
Now back to OTL, look up "Pyongyang Café Spain" lmao, not gonna lie though, bad taste simping for a totalitarian hellhole and sketchy connections-aside, I would definitely have gone to a place like this as a history/geopolitics/military fan, but only if I knew that my money wouldn't go to drug trafficking and money laundering ops of a rogue state.
Welcome to the Spanish bar where customers drink a toast to Kim Jong-un
Owner is the only Westerner to occupy a post in the North Korean regime, even if it is merely honorary
www.scmp.com
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'Death of Russia' wasn't so much 'Communism = Nazism' (The Zass Plan showed who was worse) but 'All extreme ideologies lead down the path to destruction', but no, there won't be a general Anti-Communist swing due to the Second Korean War anymore than North Korea's present state led to Communism being regarded as Nazism. It's not exactly hard for a Marxist to point out the major philosophical differences between a Korean Racial Supremacist autarkic monarchy and literally anything Marx wrote - N. Korea literally removed mention of the word 'Communism' from their foundational documents. Kim's reputation has entered the Final Boss Tankie stage alongside Pol Pot and Juan Posadas.
It'll obviously be used as propaganda by the Right especially in the US and Korea ("We didn't fight Socialism in Korea to bring it here!") but no one's seriously going to see Kim Jong Il in Bernie Sanders unless you were always unserious. In fact Chavez and Castro are currently in receipt of more support than OTL.
Speaking of the Right in Korea, considering the RoK constitution bans Kim Dae-Jung from running for reelection even if he wanted to, I assume that the Grand National Party will 100% win the next election?
I would love to see the four Kongo-class DDGs in action along with the two Shirane-class helicopter destroyers (JDS Shirane and JDS Kurama; actually the precursor to the flattops of the future Hyuga-class), two Haruna-class helicopter destroyers (JDS Haruna and JDS Hiei), and the Oyashio-class diesel-electric subs. The Soryu-class diesel-electric subs did not enter service with the JMSDF until 2005, the same year as the Atago-class DDG.
For sure, the JMSDF would be the first to fire their shots of anger since 1945.
This time, the global community would support them.
After 06/29, I seriously doubt the entire of Japan would want to keep it. It might be reinterpreted much earlier than OTL 2015, considering the heinous crime North Korea has inflicted on Japan. OTL 2023 had the Diet pass a law that Japan can now export weapons to allies. It is likely that too happens much earlier than OTL.
The Emperor and Imperial Family continues to be the voice of reason after all. It's the reason why the Allies had to keep him alive. He remained their "god" until 1947 when the post-war constitution reduced him to a symbolic figurehead.
Every country who had citizens in South Korea that died due to the attack would demand the capitulation of the Kim Dynasty, come Hell or High Water.
OTL has Kim Jong Un being the stuff of memes such as the barber shop in the UK that offers the Kim haircut, the #thank #juche memes, and that incident wherein a Brazilian father threw a North Korean-themed party for his K-pop fan daughter.Now back to OTL, look up "Pyongyang Café Spain" lmao, not gonna lie though, bad taste simping for a totalitarian hellhole and sketchy connections-aside, I would definitely have gone to a place like this as a history/geopolitics/military fan, but only if I knew that my money wouldn't go to drug trafficking and money laundering ops of a rogue state.
https://www.thelocal.es/20160807/pyongyang-cafe-a-kim-jong-un-ally-on-the-spanish-coastWelcome to the Spanish bar where customers drink a toast to Kim Jong-un
Owner is the only Westerner to occupy a post in the North Korean regime, even if it is merely honorary
London hairdresser 'targeted by North Korean embassy officials over
www.standard.co.uk
North Korean officials visit salon over Kim Jong-un 'bad hair' advert
North Korean officials visit a west London hair salon to question why it had used their leader Kim Jong-un's image in a poster.
www.bbc.com
For most that I wanted this story to be true, since this would be one of the things that make me publicly proclaim that I am proud to be Brazilian, unfortunately this is not really what happened, the backstory and context behind this is incorrect.
The guy on the photo is her brother, not her father, he wanted to pull a prank on her by putting an image of the most "famous" Korean person that he knew - Kim Jong-un, on her BTS/K Pop-themed birthday decorations, but her mom did not permit him to do that, but he insisted in pulling the prank anyways somehow, so in his new plan, he made a completely separate cake full of Kim Jong-un pics, put a single happy birthday KJU poster on another part of the house, and after her "real" birthday celebrations ended, he told her to come here and look at another cake, and the rest is history.
Initially she looked very unhappy and embarrassed about this as you can tell from the images, but when this became viral, she started to receive messages of support from various people around the world (especially from South Korea), so now she has made peace with her brother, and has come to terms with that "prank", lol.
Oh thanks for correcting me. Reddit posters were quick to make this story a little sensationalist that her father pranked or trolled her.
I wonder how the UK will send forces to Korea. Maggie T is still alive and we can hear what she has to say. I remember on the day Iraq invaded Kuwait, she told Bush Senior "not to go wobbly". Would she say the same to Bush Junior? Will India or South Africa also send some forces to help out? It will be quite interesting to see an Israeli expeditionary force. We could see IDF F-15s and F-16s wiping out the puny KPAAF. You also forgot to mention Spain and its tough military including its famous "Legion". Those guys know how to fight communists, I kid you not.
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In dubious honor of Kissinger’s death, what would his view on the whole thing be here? Any comments he has made on the war ITTL?
The UK has an SAS force in Brunei, their only remaining military base in the Far East. They'd probably use their connections in the Commonwealth which would allow their warships and aircraft to land, which I don't see them denying. Even nearby partners like the Philippines can offer Clark Air Base, Basa Air Base, Mactan Air Base, and Villamor Air Base for British planes to land and Subic for the Royal Navy. The HMS Ark Royal visited Subic Bay in 1976. As November 2013 showed, the Royal Air Force sent a C-17 to Mactan Air Base in Cebu to take part in the Typhoon Haiyan relief operations. Cebu's international airport and the nearby airbase hosted many C-130s, a C-17, and even the An-225 Mriya around that time, as it was originally constructed by the Strategic Air Command in the 1950s to be able to support B-52 bombers if Clark AB and Guam were taken out. A C-130 flew from Villamor Air Base in Manila to Tacloban to deliver supplies. HMS Daring and HMS Illustrious was deployed to the areas around Cebu and Leyte. The RN could also make stops in Singapore, especially since the island city-state has Sembawang which was a RN base until 1971. Even it was turned over to Singapore, both the USN and the RN use Sembawang for replenishment.
Even the Spanish Navy's two aircraft carriers might make a stop in the Philippines, making it a symbolic return to their former colony in the Far East. Spanish Legion and the French Foreign Legion would join the fight as well. Both are known to fight well in foreign lands.
India and South Africa may also send their forces as part of the Commonwealth. Not to mention, there may be a lot of Indian, South African, and Israeli nationals who were caught in the crossfire of 06/29. Israel and North Korea don't have relations and it is known North Korea supports the forces that attack Israel, so that would mean Israel would take part. OTL has the IDF sending humanitarian contingents to Japan after the earthquake and tsunami in 2011 and to the Philippines after Typhoon Haiyan in 2013.
Of course it wasn't true lol. A proper North Korean themed birthday party would simply involve the birthday boy or birthday girl being sent to bed and confined there without anything to eat or drink.
As Kim Dae Jung would probably be viewed as Asian chamberlain at this point due to sunshine policy backfiring.
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@Sorairo I was wondering about the state of captured Japanese citizens that the North Korean SOF has been kidnapping. Is there a way for the U.S., ROK, and allies to rescue these kidnapped Japanese? Many of these Japanese citizens have been held in captivity since the 1970s.
Example of a kidnapped person:
en.wikipedia.org
Example of a kidnapped person:
Megumi Yokota - Wikipedia
Well, in addition to well, being an advocate of nuclear war to "cleanse" the world, he was also, Lenin forbid, a Trotskyist as well.
This assumes that someone in Asia cares about Chamberlain